COULBECK, LEONARD

COULBECK, LEONARD

Born 10/05/1913 in Cleethorpes

Died 18/06/1944, age 31, RAF Station Waltham

Buried 22/06/1944

1188919, Leading Aircraftman, Royal Air Force, Volunteer Reserve

Son of Leonard and Rosetta Coulbeck (nee Johnson) of Cleethorpes

Husband of Vera Coulbeck (nee Pratt), married 1937 in Grimsby

Father of Leonard Coulbeck, born in early 1945

Address: 204 Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes

Grave ref: Section BB, grave S33

Leonard Coulbeck was the older brother of friend of FOCH Norma White, her senior by 23 years. Thanks to Norma, we have the following information about him:

“Len Coulbeck, a former pupil of St James School, Grimsby joined the RAF at the beginning of the Second World War. He was a leading aircraftman, serving initially at Elsham Wold and then in Iraq with the desert forces. He was then posted home as an armourer at Waltham. His job was to prepare bombs ready for loading.

His family thought their worries about his safety were over when he was posted to RAF Grimsby, just a mile or two away from their home in Cleethorpes.

On June 18th 1944 he and two other armourers were working in the bomb dump, preparing for a raid on the German forces surrounding the Normandy bridgehead.

Without warning the airfield was rocked by an enormous explosion. At least three 250lb bombs exploded and LAC Coulbeck, who was 31, and his colleagues were killed instantly. Two other bombs were in such an unstable condition that part of the airfield was sealed off until they were dealt with.

His family later heard that the mishap involved a pin which had probably been wrongly inserted in one of the bombs. When an attempt was made to remove it the bomb exploded, setting off the other two.”

The pictures (see attachment below), also sent to us by Norma, show Len Coulbeck with his colleagues from 142 Squadron Wellington.